16 Wisconsin Food Traditions [Infographic]

Wisconsin has its fair share of signature foods. Have you ever witnessed a non-Wisconsinite try their very first cheese curd? And, doesn’t it seem crazy when people from out of state have no clue about Friday fish fry, chicken booyah or even beer brats!?

Wisconsin’s food traditions are rooted in our culture. They tell a story about our history and are something we should be proud of. It’s part of what makes Wisconsin so original!

Cheese and beer are very well-known food ways of Wisconsin. But here at 16 more foods that are also staples of dining in the Badger State.

FYI – You’ll discover more about each food tradition below the infographic.

1. Fish Fry

Beer battered perch, french fries, tangy tarter, lemon wedges, an onion slice on rye bread and a side of creamy coleslaw.

This familiar plate of food is the type of Friday night fish fry you’ll find at thousands of restaurants all over Wisconsin. It’s been part of our culture for centuries.

And Wisconsinites continue to look forward to it’s deliciousness every week!

3. Beer Brats

A Wisconsin summer is not complete without grilled bratwurst soaked in beer and onions.

Bratwursts are another delicious food of Wisconsin. Leave it to Wisconsinites to come up with a brilliant beer sauce to cook them in. While the real Germans may scoff at our way of cooking these sausages, once you’ve tasted one, you’ll never want brats any other way.

5. Butter Burgers

It makes sense that Wisconsinites found a way to turn a hamburger into a mouth-watering butter burger topped with cheese too, of course. What do you expect when we live in the Dairy State?!

The Butter Burger is another popular Wisconsin food tradition that goes way back. The butter is either stuffed into the middle of the beef patty before grilling, or placed on top fresh off the grill. The bun is a little toasty and the melty butter drips down the sides as you sink your teeth in.

6. Blue Moon Ice Cream

It’s bright blue and has a distinct original flavor. But what is it? I think it tastes like the leftover milk after a bowl of Froot Loops. But I’ve heard other people guess almond, marshmallow, amaretto and plenty more.

One thing is for sure, Blue Moon is a Wisconsin thing, which is deeply rooted in our history. But the recipe still remains a mystery.

7. Brandy Old Fashioned

If you order an Old Fashioned in Wisconsin, you’re going to get it with Brandy. A drink that embodies the culture of Wisconsin. You can’t get too far across the border before you start stumping bartenders.

But how did the Wisconsin-style traditional cocktail come to be?

We know it all began with the whiskey cocktail, which turned into the Old-Fashioned. But, somewhere in the process, Wisconsin got creative and it stuck.

Some people wonder if it made its impression on Wisconsinites during the Chicago World Fair of 1893 – when Josef, Antone and Francis Korbel’s brandy was showcased. That, and the fact that Brandy seems to be the German alcohol of choice and Wisconsin has a large German background.

8. Sausage

The bratwurst might be the most-talked-about sausage in our state, but Wisconsin is actually known for making a variety of sausages. There’s the Polish Sausage, Italian Sausage, Andouille Sausage, Belgian Trippe and the Hot Dog – just to name a few.

Have you witnessed the famous racing weenies at a Milwaukee Brewer’s game. Those sausage links represent a part of our unique Wisconsin heritage!

The European settlers, many German, brought their old-world recipes and link-making methods with them. Small butcher shops opened all over Wisconsin and, like cheese and beer, sausage became a signature food of our state.

You’ll find many specialty meat markets throughout the Badger state. Summer sausage, salami and venison sausage are among the popular Wisconsin variety.

If you know of a great local meat market in Wisconsin – leave a comment and let people know about it!

9. Pasties

After lead was first discovered in Mineral Point, Wisconsin in the 1830s, miners from Cornwall England migrated to the area.

The Cornish were tin miners who carried pasties for lunch.

A pasty is similar to a pot pie, but instead of the pot it looks more like an omelet – cooked without a dish. It’s sort of a much-better version of the Hot Pocket.

You’ll find at least 15 unique pasty varieties on the Rocks For Fun menu. They have breakfast pasties filled with potato, ham, eggs, cheese and onion or bacon, hash browns, eggs, cheese and onion. And other pasty fillings like pizza, Reuben and spaghetti with meatballs. Each pasty is complete with a smiley face.

But that’s not all that will make your family smile. Restauranteur, Don McClellan, has lined the walls with his 322 rock-themed creations. And you’ll eat at a glass tabletop with entertaining and even humorous rock art for the whole family to enjoy!

Joe’s Pasty Shop has been a family tradition since 1946. The Rhinelander location came second after their pasty shop in Michigan. Joe’s makes their pasties from scratch with very fresh and locally sourced ingredients.

Their beef and pork is naturally raised and grass-fed – which means no hormones, steroids or antibiotics!

10. Fish Boil

As the story goes, the first fish boil, also locally known as “Poor Man’s Lobster,” took place in Ellison Bay, Door County at the Viking Grill in 1961. The owners then, Annette and Lawrence Wickman, got the idea from the churches that held trout boils in the area. But instead of trout, they used locally caught whitefish.

This fish boil has become a cherished Door County tradition. You can find them at many restaurants in Door County – or make a visit to the original spot – Viking Grill & Lounge at 4:30 PM mid May through October.

11. Broasted Chicken

Have you been to a supper club or family diner in Wisconsin that was serving Broasted Chicken? Yep, Broasted – not roasted.

Broasted chicken came about in 1954, when L.A.M Phelan, founder of the Broaster Company of Beloit, Wisconsin invented the Broaster Pressure Fryer and the method of cooking.

Broasted chicken is marinaded and breaded using The Broaster Company’s recipes, and then cooked in a real Broaster Pressure Fryer. The technique combines deep frying and pressure cooking.

The company actually trademarked the term “Broasted” and licenses its equipment and recipes to more than 5,500 eateries who serve this unique Wisconsin chicken.

12. Frozen Custard

Frozen custard is a lot like ice cream, except it is made with egg yolks in addition to the cream and sugar. I read that the eggs make the ice cream stay cold longer and help give it a creamier texture.

Although this treat was invented in New York, it caught on in the Midwest after the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. Milwaukee was even coined the “unofficial frozen custard capital of the world” because the city has so many custard shops.

Joe’s Pasties are definitely the best. Pasties were eaten in the copper and iron ore mines as well in Minnesota and Michigan. All of their ingredients are free-range, locally sourced and/or organic as much as possible and they are the only Wisconsin certified green business in Rhinelander. Lots of different flavors and new inventions all the time. The crust is particularly good–very thin and flakey–and their vegetarian pasty is the best I’ve ever had. I’m from the UP and we think ours are the best, but I think the shop in Rhinelander has them beat!

Northeast Wisconsin, or at least Kewaunee County, have a pastry called a Belgian Pie that is not like anything I’ve seen anywhere else. It has a yeast dough base with a thick layer of filling topped with sweetened cream cheese, made in a cake pan. It is not as sweet or as flakey as a Danish or Kringle, and is more solid and not as sweet as a regular pie, although it is served in wedges like a pie. The North Water Bakery and Deli in Algoma has excellent ones, along with some of the best doughnuts ever.
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Hard rolls and baked ham for breakfast on Sunday morning. There wasn’t a bakery that didn’t sell this when I was a kid. When I talk to people in New York where I live now about this, they kinda look at me funny…like when I say bubbler.

Stollen. Especially for Christmas. Also, ah, blue moon… I would always get a blue moon ice cream at Mother’s Ice Cream Parlor at the Valley Fair Mall when I was a kid. My favorite. I never knew it was unique to Wisconsin.

Ring baloney…the kid brother to Big baloney. A baloney sausage about 10-12 inches long and 2 inches in diameter curved into a ring and tied together. Ring baloney for a GI student bride was also called Tube Steak. Big baloney was your standard sliced kind…but a chub (unsliced) of big baloney could be ground up at home, mixed with pickle relish and a little salad dressing and Voila, ham salad sandwich spread!

Gritswurst…a fresh sausage made of bulghour (I.e., groats or grits) mixed into ground up cooked liver and kidney and seasoned with onion. Usually packed into a natural casing and made in small batches, recipes handed along from one ancient German farmer to his descendants, specialty made once a year and eaten up so rapidly nobody ever considered preserving or freezing it. A fond memory from the north woods in Oconto County.